1889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
168 
FARMER’S CLUB. 
(Continued from Page 162 ) 
GIVE THEM A REST—LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
J. S. L, Salem, Mass. —A great mistake in 
the management of domestic fowls is constant 
forcing. All living creatures require certain 
periods of rest. The trees and all vegetation 
have their rest. If we wish the rose that has 
flowered through the past season to flower 
also in winter, we allow the leaves to drop and 
place it in the cellar for a few weeks to rest, 
before forcing it again into active growth. 
The same should be done with our fowls; after 
laying through the warm weather they should 
be allowed, at moulting time, eight weeks 
rest to renew their strength. This may be ac¬ 
complished by feeding stimulating food, but 
not forcing the laying propensities. By this 
method we get more' eggs yearly, and lose 
fewer birds by exhaustion. Many fowls, 
especially the Leghorn varieties, often die 
without any apparent disease, having actu¬ 
ally layed themselves to death owing to this 
artificial mode of treatment. Allow the birds 
to rest during November and December and 
you will have healthy fowls and strong chick¬ 
ens the following spring. I class myself 
among the old breeders of the country, being 
one of the first to introduce and breed the 
Light Brabma fowls,which I have bred for up¬ 
wards of 40 years. The Brahmas of 1845 were 
quite different from the beautifully pencilled- 
necked birds of the present day. At that 
time 50 per cent, were discarded on account 
of color, form, etc., but by careful breeding 
we have attained perfection; and uniformity in 
color, size, form, etc., is established. This 
breed stands first on the list of Asiatic fowls. 
While other breeds have been introduced 
only to be discarded, the Light Brahmas have 
increased in popularity until now no breed is 
in such demand. As winter layers and poul¬ 
try for the market they have no equal. 
THE WORDEN AND CONCORD GRAPES. 
F. H. V., Clyde, N. Y.— I think there is 
considerable misapprehension in regard to the 
Worden grape. It should not be compared 
with the Concord as taking its place, but as 
supplementary to it. Were I to plant a vine¬ 
yard tor market purposes 1 would plant both. 
With me, during the past unfavorable season, 
the Worden ripened perfectly; the Concord 
did not. The Worden is sweet and good as 
soon as black, while the Concord must hang 
several days to be at its best. On the 
other hand, the Worden is at its best but 
a short time, losing Its flavor rapidly after 
ripening, while the Concord may be kept in 
good condition well into the winter. The berry 
of the Worden is larger than that of the Con¬ 
cord, but I do not think that, on an average, 
the clusters are larger, or the vines more vig¬ 
orous. The Worden suffered considerably in 
reputation when first introduced, by unscrupu¬ 
lous parties buying Concord vinfs at low fig¬ 
ures and selling them for genuine Wordens, 
some leading growers being in this way de¬ 
ceived for a time. 
GOOD COWS, GOOD BUTTER, GOOD PROFITS. 
H. C. M., Fairfield Co., Conn.— Since 
giving, on page 90, a statement of my dairy 
record for 1888, I have read Mr. Pratt’s state¬ 
ment, which makes a very good showing; 
but I think I am somewhat ahead of him. I 
have no way of estimating the milk, cream 
and butter consumed in the family, as I use a 
Cooley creamer, and whatever milk is wanted 
for the family is saved ont of each milking. 
There is no limitation as to the quantity. 
My wife uses nothing but new milk for all 
her cooking purposes. When she wants cream 
she goes and gets it without thinking whether 
butter is selling for 20 cents or for 40 cents per 
pound. If a farmer who produces good things 
on his farm cannot consume all he wants of 
them, what is the use of having a farm? 
That is my wife’s opinion, and mine too. As 
to butter, we use I think about four pounds a 
week. At any rate we have used at that 
rate for the last three weeks. I could not 
say how many pounds I have sold, as I mere¬ 
ly kept an account of the cash as the butter 
was disposed of. I have sold $138 worth of 
pork and pigs, but it would be very unfair to 
give the credit of it all to the cows, as besides 
a good many pounds of skimmed milk fed, 
it took a great deal of coarse stuff to 
make that pork. I have also raised three 
calves in the year. I think Mr. Pratt’s esti¬ 
mate of the value of skimmed milk too high. 
As to his'fearsof milk fever, he need not have 
any. I have had 15 years’ experience in keeping 
cows, and I have never had a case; but I have 
seen plenty of it around me. All the precau¬ 
tion I take against it. is not to let the cows 
get too fleshy in the latter end ot their milking 
period. When they are dry, if they are in¬ 
clined to ’fatten up I give them short pasture 
aad plenty of fresh water, and all the shade 
from the sun they want, and they come in 
during July, August and September without 
any trouble. After calving I do not feed 
anything in the line of mill-feed for seven 
days. If pasture is good, it is sufficient; 
if not, I piece out with drilled corn, waste 
vegetables’ from the garden, etc. It is bet¬ 
ter to feed too little than too much through 
this period; but one should see that his cows 
have all the pure water they want. 
more about lime. 
G S. S., Middleburgh, Pa.—I n a late 
Rural I saw another article on liming land. 
I feel like adding my experience for the bene¬ 
fit of those who contemplate the use of lime. 
This calcareous formation is natural to this 
county. It extends almost its entire length 
from east to west. In 'fact, over the whole 
county it crops out. We also have the red 
shale and light shale, or light gravelly soil. 
At the east end of our small town there are 
12or more kilns; moreover, some farmers have 
lots on which they erect stacks and burn lime. 
A number of years ago these were the most of 
the time In full blast; while at present there 
are only a few in the business and those only on 
half time. On our limestone land the effects 
of the first and second applications are very 
marked, while those of the third and so on 
can hardly be noticed. It has a tendency to 
make the land hard. In drought it bakes so 
hard that all clover and young grass will die 
out. Abont eight years ago I bad ten acres 
which seemed entirely exhausted of all 
fertility. Neighboring farmers said it should 
be limed, and 100 bushels were applied per 
acre on sod. In the spring clover was 
sown," but it would not catch. I turned 
the stubble again in hopes it would do 
better; but tho result was the same. For the 
third time (I am ashamed to say it) it was 
stubbled. This time it got a light dressing of 
fine barn yard manure, with 200 pounds of 
good fertilizer and this brought it out all 
right. I got a "heavy crop of grass on it 
afterwards. Since then I have tried 70 
bushels on oat stubble on the plowed ground, 
and the effects were the same. The advo¬ 
cates of lime will, no doubt, say the quantity 
applied was too great, or that poor judgment 
was used. 1 will admit all this; but even 
tho«e who apply it on a clover sod begin to 
see that its use will eventually make their 
land hard and unproductive. Some farmers 
are still using it, and raise from 12 to 15 
bushels of wheat per acre. Last season I 
averaged 25 bushels of wheat per acre, with 
barnyard manure and a light dressing of fer¬ 
tilizers. On our light soils the effects of lime 
are about the same. One sees no manure 
piles, every bit of grain is sold and then the 
farmers haul out lime thinking 'it a manure. 
But every such farmer will sooner or later see 
his folly. 
R. A. S., Joseph, Oregon.— Almost every 
one advises ns to use corn-cobs for smoking 
meat. If people will try green willow for 
this purpose they will never use anything 
else. I learned this from an old trapper and 
hunter. The willow givgs meat the most de¬ 
licious flavor. Green cotton-wood is superior 
to corn-cobs any time. 
W. C. M., Blackstone, MASS.-^Quite 
frequently I wish to refer to some article 
which I have read in the Rural, so I have 
taken a small blank-book and started a sim¬ 
ple alphabetical index; and now each week as 
I read the Rural, I index such matter as 1 
may need for reference. It takes no time 
to speak [of, and if one wishes to find some¬ 
thing he has read, it will save considerable 
time and trouble. 
A. J. P., Johnstown, N. Y.— Reading 
Bucephalus Brown’s Ideas on poultry in a late 
Rural set me thinking whether poultry pavs. 
I have 251 fowls—108 one-year-olds and 148 
pullets. In January we got 75V dozens of 
eggs. There is no colder month in the year 
and during it we do not expect many eggs. 
A part of my pullets were hatched late and 
are not yet old enough' to lay. The eggs last 
Jauuary averaged 27 cents per dozen. 
A. H. S., Melrose, N. Y —Here is my ex¬ 
perience with the Rural’s trench system: I 
planted one bushel of Pearl of Savov, cut to 
two pieces with three eyes each, abont 15 
inches apart, and got 80 bushels of as fine 
potatoes as I ever saw. I used 100 pounds 
of bone superphosphate. The soil was a rich 
sandy loam. I am thoroughly satisfied that it 
is the on’y right way to plant potatoes to get a 
big result. I am going to try it on a larger 
scale this year. Success to the Rural! 
H R., Brookfield, Mass.— Mr. Brown 
says that for poultry on the farm no special 
feeding whatever is needed; that with plenty 
of natural food, clean water aud comfortable 
quarters they will lay all the eggs they could 
lay under any conditions. I would like to 
ask him'what this natural food is, aud how it 
differs from yarded poultry feed in the win¬ 
ter. I don’t know what advantage the farmer 
has over the" fancier for making hens lay. 
Perhaps he can tell us? 
E. K. M., Rexford, Kan. — I have of late 
noticed several reports in the press which, if 
true,’would indicate that peanut culture in 
this State may become a very profitable in¬ 
dustry. Will those who have “raised 40 bush¬ 
els to the acre” please report their method of 
culture and handling to the Rural. I have 
resided in the State the past four years and 
have raised a small quantity of peanuts for 
my own use each year, but have never tried 
to raise them on a large scale. They grow 
nicely, but seldom mature more than three- 
fourths of the nuts. 
J. N., Outagarnie Co., Wis. —Last year 
I undertook to raise about two acres of pop¬ 
corn. It was planted about the end of May, 
came up well, was cultivated and hoed and 
made a fine growth. I felt sure of at least 50 
bushels of ears to the acre; but the early frost 
caught it before it was ripe, and in«t°ad of 
getting 100 bushels of fine pop-corn I got about 
30 that was fit for market. First-class, nice 
pop-corn Is worth two to three cents per 
pound in the ear. A bushel of ears thoroughly 
dried will weigh about 40 pounds. It requires 
to be thoroughly cured I shall try again 
next season and will plant about two weeks 
earlier. 
W. A. M , Erie, Va. —I shall stick to the 
old theory of feeding only twice in 24 hours 
until I can see better results than I ever have 
seen by feeding three or more times. Tn all 
instances regularity in the hours of feeding 
should be carefully observed and the quantity 
must be what the animal will consume with a 
relish. When the amount fed is greater than 
the animal consumes, then there is unavoid¬ 
ably a waste, for when food is once breathed 
on and mussed over the creatures must get 
very hungry before they will eat that left 
from the previous feeding. Clean mangers 
are always a great stimulus to a hearty rel¬ 
ish of whatever is fed. A variation in sub¬ 
stances fed gives relish as well as thrift. 
R. G. Chase & Co., Geneva, N. Y.-We 
have just received the following note from 
Mr. Hyatt, of Yates County, N. Y.: 
“I have just 6een in the Rural a cut of the 
Geneva which is a disgrace to the grape. I 
could have sent you half a dozen bnnches far 
better. But I want to speak of its keeping 
qualities, particularly. I kept some till about 
New Year’s, and they not only improved, but 
changed in quality greatly for the better. 
And while I left some of them until thev be¬ 
gan to shrivel, not a berry would drop or 
shake from the stem. All were delighted with 
the fine flavor they acquired by long keeping. 
R. N.-Y. The bunch was drawn and pub¬ 
lished simply because the specimen was an av¬ 
erage of the several bunches sent to us. It 
has not yet fruited at the Rural Grounds. 
G. D. N., New Market, Ala. —I use what is 
called cotton motes (the waste in ginniugl as a 
covering to preserve Irish and sweet po’atoes 
through the winter. When dug I put them 
up in conical mounds under a shelter open on 
the Southwest and East, aud cover them all 
over with cotton motes to a depth of one or 
two inches. This covering will protect them 
from our severest winters. Frequently the 
chickens scratch about the mounds and ex¬ 
pose the tubers, but no frost injures them. 
Perhaps there is something in the fibre which 
prevents damage. I have put up all kinds of 
fruit in opeu jars, heating the fruit as if going 
to can it; but after filling the jars to the top 
I simply cover them with bats of carded cot¬ 
ton wool, and they have kept as fresh for 
months as if thev had been sealed in cans. 
According to Prof. Tindley even microscopi¬ 
cal germs, microbes, etc., cannot passthrough 
cotton. 
“W.,” Tyrone, Pa.— The Rural says (P. 
71, 2d. col.) “Don’t use a hedge of any kind 
nowadays, as a cattle fence.” But what is 
the matter witn a hedge that merely masks a 
real fence of three or four barbed'wires? Such 
a hedge ne°d not be thorny, or strong, or even. 
Its purpose is to show animals their dead-line 
plainly, and to shelter and beautify the field. 
If in pasture land only such plauts as cattle 
dislike should be used, such as barberry, briar 
roses, purple osier. They won’t touch Japan 
quince or privet unless famished. Privet is 
so nearly evergreen that it would come very 
near meeting Snowdrop’s wishes, especially 
if some deutzias, mock oranges, shrub honey¬ 
suckles, altheas are set in it here and there. 
Spineas would aid its floral beauty, but they 
widen the hedgerow by their habit of stool- 
ing.( P.78, 3d col.) Another reason for recom¬ 
mending the cherry for roadside planting is 
that boys can’t pelt off the fruit, and if they 
climb they risk being caught. 
E. W. G., Waynesboro, Pa.—I asked, 1. 
What kind of stock is used for the Kilmar¬ 
nock Willow? 3. Would it bo advisable to 
plant the Delaware Red Winter apple exten¬ 
sively? 3. Can the'weeping maple be grafted 
on any other sorts? To those inquiries the 
Rural answered: “1 The Goat Willow— 
Salix caprea. 2. There are several Red 
Winter apples, but we do not know of the 
Delaware Red Winter 8. We do not know 
of any weeping maple. Kindly tell us the 
specific name.” 
The Delaware Red Winter apple is described 
in the catalogues of Lovett, PboeDix, and 
other nurserymen. Ellwanger & Barry adver¬ 
tised 'the weeping maple. A neighbor of 
mine purchased two trees, but their habit is 
not very “weeping” or pendulous. I can’t 
find the varietal name. 
R. N.-Y.—The Delaware Red Winter re¬ 
ferred to is probably the Lawver. There is a 
maple known as the Palmate Weeping Japan, 
that may be the kind referred to. This we 
believe is slow-growing and not very pen¬ 
dulous. The Kilmarnock may be worked on 
any willow stock, but the Caprea suits it best. 
TUommt’s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
A Good many industrious people think that 
it looks lazy for a woman to sit down at her 
work, but what,a mistaken idea this is. Most 
industrious women suffer more from bein'* 
constantly on their feet than from any other 
exertion. Actually, we have seen women 
standing to peel potatoes, when there was no 
earthly reason why they should not sit down. 
And they wonder that they feel dragged out! 
We believe that it is the positive duty of a 
busv housekeeper to rest all she can, and she 
ought to sit down when preparing vegetables, 
wiping dishes, or even ironing. We can 
imagine a chorus of indignant protests at this 
last statement: but we know plenty of women 
who would feel very much better both in 
health and temper if they tried it. So often 
what seems to be ill-temper in a woman is 
merely over-tasked nerves and over-tired 
body. We don’t always think a woman 
is fretful when she shows care-worn lines 
in her face; they are often a sign of 
tender cares and loving work for others. 
But it is her duty to care for herself 
while caring for others, and one of the neces¬ 
sities of such care is rest when rest is possible. 
OUTINGS IN NEW ENGLAND. 
MARY WAGER FISHER. 
I HAT every loyal American should feel’a 
particular interest in New England and 
what pertains thereto, is well understood. 
Although it is not altogether true that on her 
soil was the cradle of liberty rocked more 
vigorously than elsewhere, still there is a 
general sentiment to that effpct. It was there 
that the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers landed 
on that bleak December dav in 1620, making 
of the spot a Mecca to which thousands of 
people turn their steps yearly, and which is 
indeed to many the most hallowed ground in 
all the country. 
When one is free to enjoy a summer outing 
as he I ikes, it is not alway s easy to define why he 
chooses a certain locality, or the circumstances 
that drift him to some place where he least 
intended to go, so when for three successive 
summers I have found myself on the rock- 
bound shore of New England, it has seemed 
more like a happy fatality that has drawn me 
to a region so abounding in historical associa¬ 
tions, than any prearranged plan. The first 
summer we planned to spend in the beautiful 
Chester Valley in Pennsylvania, but we actu¬ 
ally spent but one day there. We then 
directed our steps toward the Atlantic sea¬ 
board, tarrying for a time in the old town of 
Burlington on the Delaware, which is claimed 
to have been Penn’s original site for Philadel¬ 
phia. James Fennimore Cooper was born 
there, and so was Admiral Lawrence, and the 
dwellings which were their birth-places are 
still standing. It is a pretty town because of 
the old trees which shade the streets, and 
there is much of interest of a local character 
connected with the old families and home¬ 
steads a few of them built before the Revolu¬ 
tion, aud some of them have the added attrac¬ 
tion of old-fashioned gardens now so rarely 
seen in these days of “modern improvements;” 
but none of these equals in simple aud lasting 
charm the garden walk with flower borders, 
and vine-wreathed arbors for resting-places 
arching the walk at intervals. One of the 
most amusing old things which we saw in 
Burlington was a doll which was brought 
over from London in 1760—a family heirloom. 
Bein&of wood, it bad borne, the brunt of haxd 
